On a certain level, you can’t help but wonder how yet another production of Murder On The Orient Express even exists in 2017. It’s not as if audiences have been begging for more Agatha Christie content in recent years or that there’s suddenly been a massive revival in drawing room mysteries to explain why a studio would want to make a blockbuster version of Christie potboiler. It likely exists as a big expensive Kenneth Branagh ego trip, surrounded by a bunch of famous friends as cover. This thing shouldn’t have made it through the studio system at all, especially as a grand and expensive studio release. Johnny Depp in Murder on the Orient Express 2017 – image via 21st Century Fox Yet on another level, it kind of makes sense. After all, many moons ago the paperback murder mysteries that Christie specialized in had a similar level of cultural cache and success as comic books. Plus, this famous property is also technically part of a larger franchise linked by Christie’s super detective Hercule Poirot. Fox likely looked at the star-packed project and saw the potential for a blockbuster franchise with just enough period prestige to qualify as awards bait and bring in a bundle from older audiences. Sure, there’s a certain desperation involved to stretch Agatha Christie into a potential repeatable Hollywood franchise. But hey! Maybe it could work. Well, sadly, that seems unlikely when you actually shove Branagh’s big safe gamble into your eyeholes. That’s not to say that Murder on the Orient Express is a particularly bad movie—because it’s not. It’s fine. It’s perfectly decent and totally watchable. It’s just not particularly exciting despite all the famous faces and blockbuster razzmatazz. There’s very little here that didn’t work better in the 1974 cinematic adaptation of this story and not only will viewers who remember that version likely shrug off the new one, but the creaky old conventions in play are unlikely to bring in many new viewers. Sure, murder and intrigue and famous and big ol’ set pieces all pop up in the flick on the regular, just in ways that feel awkwardly out of date and forced into contemporary mainstream filmmaking styles at once. Kenneth Branagh and Daisy Ridley in Murder on the Orient Express 2017 – image via 21st Century Fox At the centre of it all is Kenneth Branagh, not just over-directing the hell out of the movie so that every camera angle is a canted show off shot filled with unnecessary CGI effects to needlessly expand the scale, but also overacting as a Belgian super detective who is a cross between a less funny Inspector Clouseau and a less exciting Sherlock Holmes. The guy goes big as both director and actor, chewing scenery and whipping the camera around like a Michael Bay oddly obsessed with gentle early 20th century mysteries. It can get a bit overbearing, but it’s also frequently fun. There are few blockbuster specialists in history as unexpected as Branagh and he’s gotten good at what he does. Sure the focus is middlebrow and dated, but that’s to be expected from the Branagh at this point. Mugging overacting isn’t always a given with the guy, but that’s fine. After all, he’s got a hell of a cast to try and overshadow at the centre. Indeed, there’s virtually no one in this sprawling list of murder suspects who isn’t super famous or at least instantly recognizable. The big name is Johnny Depp, playing a dastardly jerk pretty much destined to be murdered from the second he opens his mouth and spits out a vulgar old timey criminal accent in a distinctly British tale. After Depp’s role is reduced to a bloody corpse, it’s up to the likes of Judi Dench, Daisy Ridley, Willem Dafoe, Josh Gad, Penelope Cruz, and Michelle Pfeiffer to act super suspicious as Branagh runs through the suspects. Some of the performers are wasted, some are overused, some are awkwardly out of place, and exactly one of them shines brightly. That’d be Michelle Pfeiffer, who does so much with so little you can’t help but hope that she’s primed for a comeback. Other than that, it’s fun to see these famous faces do shifty-eyed acting. But ultimately, this type of mystery writing and characterization has been around for so long that little of it surprises. The story is still well told and lands on a pretty great solution to all the parlour games, but it ultimately feels old fashioned rather than nostalgic. The type of story best suited to BBC broadcast, no many how many famous faces, special effects, and show-off camera moves Branagh lavishes all over the material. Judi Dench and Olivia Colman in Murder on the Orient Express 2017 – image via 21st Century Fox That’s ultimately the biggest problem with Murder On The Orient Express; we’ve been here before and enough times that there’s little need to do it again. Sure, it’s kind of fun to watch a clearly amused Kenneth Branagh get to play with one of the most expensive train sets ever constructed while sharing the stage with a bunch of famous friends. It’s just also a bit rich to think that Branagh and the studio seem so cockily convinced that they can stretch this thing into a blockbuster franchise for grownups. This is a passable bit of light entertainment, but hardly something worthy of a multi-year and film investment. Fortunately, it’s highly unlikely enough people will show up for this stagey bit of faux blockbusterdom to imagine it all leading to an Agatha Christie Cinematic Universe. It’ll likely be a quickly dismissed and forgotten experiment. But hey, at least Branagh and a bunch of his famous friends had a bunch of fun making a movie, right? Sure, it would have been better if audiences had even half as much fun watching the results. But hey, you can’t have everything, right?

The director and star Kenneth Branagh’s remake looks great but feels utterly Branagh in Murder on the Orient Express 20th Century FoxIn cinema, as elsewhere, there can be too much of a good thing. Quick Do you remember the film several years back that starred Judi Dench, Penélope Cruz, Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, and Nicole Kidman, among others? If you recall that it was Nine, the director Rob Marshall’s musical follow-up to his Academy Award–winning Chicago, well good on you. I can scarcely summon any memory of the film ReadingThe director Kenneth Branagh’s remake of Murder on the Orient Express labors under the same delusion that cinematic quality is arithmetical Dench and Cruz are both here again, as are Branagh himself, Michelle Pfeiffer, Johnny Depp, Daisy Ridley, Josh Gad, Derek Jacobi, and God knows how many others who are currently skipping my mind. If movies truly were math, this would be a they aren’t, and it’s not. Branagh’s retelling of the classic Agatha Christie tale is visually sumptuous yet otherwise inert, a series of what are essentially cameos by performers far too gifted to waste their time like this. There should be a law against casting Judi Dench in a film and then giving her virtually nothing to plot is familiar, even to those who have neither read the novel nor seen Sidney Lumet’s famous 1974 adaptation starring Albert Finney The year is 1935, and 13 apparent strangers are sharing a carriage on a train from Istanbul to Calais. One of them is murdered in his cabin with a dozen stab wounds, and the rest are trapped on the train by a snowdrift that has blocked the tracks. Who among them is the killer? Fortunately, among them is also Hercule Poirot Branagh, and he will solve the mystery because that is what he movie opens with an introductory scene in which Poirot is called upon to solve a mystery involving a priest, a rabbi, an imam—yes, the requisite “walk into a bar” joke is made—and the theft of a sacred relic. In the process, we are introduced to the idea of Hercule Poirot, inveterate perfectionist He carefully measures his two boiled eggs to ensure they are the same size; having stepped in a dung patty with one foot, he carefully places the other foot in it as well to preserve “balance” in the philosophical rather than ambulatory sense. Asked how it is he is able to deduce even the most hidden truths, he replies, “I can only see the world as it should be. And when it is not, imperfection stands out like the nose on a face.”The film is a reasonably faithful adaptation of the novel, and some of its variations are improvements. Two characters—a doctor and a soldier—are usefully melded into one, and a secondary stabbing is introduced to good effect. Other alterations, alas, seem more like concessions to the temper of the times a chase through the trestles of an alpine bridge; a fight and gunshot wound; a pointless backstory about Poirot’s lost love; and an extended bout of moral handwringing once the mystery has been the most dispiriting way in which the film diverges from its source material is in the person of Poirot himself. Christie’s Poirot was a somewhat comical figure, a short man five-foot-four, to be precise with a head “exactly the shape of an egg,” and a meticulously waxed mustache that curved up into two points. Branagh’s Poirot keeps the mustache—indeed, pushes it beyond absurdity, now curling up into six points—but otherwise he looks pretty much like movie-star Kenneth Branagh. He’s adopted the habit, a la Sherlock Holmes, of wowing strangers by intuiting their origins and professions on the basis of minute physical details. And, also like Holmes, he’s become adept at physical flatly heroic portrayal of Christie’s odd little Belgian detective might be less annoying if it didn’t smack of directorial vanity on Branagh’s part. So, too, might the fact that Branagh accords himself more screen time than all his illustrious costars combined. This latter defect would arguably be hard to avoid Finney, too, dominated the all-star cast of the 1974 version, even if Ingrid Bergman walked away with a thoroughly unearned Oscar for supporting actress. Is this unfair to Branagh? Perhaps. But it is the tightrope to be walked in self-directed star turns in movies that aim to be on the Orient Express is not a bad movie per se, merely one that feels self-indulgent and thoroughly unnecessary. Or perhaps it’s just me I can only see the movie as it should have been. And when it’s not, its imperfections stick out like the nose above a six-point mustache.

There is a moment early in Kenneth Branagh’s intricately constructed adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic whodunnit when Hercule Poirot Branagh stands on the deck of a ship as it leaves Istanbul. Poirot is captured center frame The deck, the railing, the adjacent cabin and the sea itself are balanced perfectly around him. The shot is illustrative of Murder on the Orient Express as a whole, which centers upon Poirot as the audience’s guide through the cinematic lattice, and also as the center of the film’s thematic and indeed philosophical exploration. As one would expect in a detective drama, Poirot provides the balance between mystery and understanding, but this conceit goes further, as this very balance becomes less steady and understanding less certain as the narrative unfolds. The twists and turns of the story are well known to many. This reviewer, however, had the pleasure of not knowing the story at all and therefore encountered the titular murder and subsequent investigation as a series of reveals and genuine surprises. Even those familiar with the story, however, may find much to enjoy with Branagh’s stylish presentation and delivery. Director of photography Haris Zambarloukos creates a mobile and captivating cinematography, including some extraordinary overhead shots that delay showing the full extent of a scene just long enough for the viewer to cease expecting it, before the camera pans to reveal further details. Zambarloukos also captures much of the film in long takes reminiscent of the work of Emmanuel Lubezki in “Birdman” and “The Revenant.” Like the latter of these, a cold and snowy environment enshrouds the events of Murder On The Orient Express, vast mountains dwarfing the eponymous train as it moves with a smooth motion similar to that of the camera. This fluid visual style neatly complements the wattage of the starry cast who play the passengers aboard the famous train, all of which are neatly sketched and provide a colorful collection of characters. From Johnny Depp’s “Pirates of the Caribbean Dead Men Tell No Tales” oily Edward Ratchett who spars words with Poirot over cake, to Judi Dench’s “Victoria and Abdul” haughty Princess Dragomiroff and her seemingly downtrodden maid Hildegarde Schmidt Olivia Colman, “Tyrannosaur”; from Michelle Pfeiffer’s “mother!” overly garrulous Caroline Hubbard to regular Branagh collaborator Derek Jacobi’s “My Week with Marilyn” Edward Henry Masterman; from Willem Dafoe’s “The Florida Project” curiously accented Gerhard Hardman to Daisy Ridley’s “Star Wars The Last Jedi” stellar turn as the cool and collected Mary Debenham, each passenger/suspect is more than they seem and provides an excellent foil to Poirot. Yet the film ensures that Poirot himself is also layered, as a constant strain of melancholy plays behind Branagh’s searching eyes and flamboyant mustache. Poirot’s remarkable deductive abilities and suggestions of obsessive compulsive disorder are balanced with regular references to a photograph of a lost love, and a broader sadness at a world that he believes is not how it should be. This belief feeds into the philosophical investigation of Murder on the Orient Express, which seems to develop in response to Poirot’s a rather naïve moral perspective, expressed early in the film “I can only see a world as it should be. It makes an imperfection stick out like the nose on your face.” His view proves highly significant, as while the viewer may agree or disagree with Poirot, it makes sense that a detective would create a mental construct as a bulwark against the contradictions and iniquities that Branagh’s character encounters. But as Poirot and the audience learns, if no one is what they seem, perhaps the world at large is similarly dubious and possessed of shades of gray. This conceit plays into the visuals, as at times the largely digital exteriors are at odds with the physical interiors. Jim Clay’s production design evokes a sense of period, location and society, but the digital effects seem overly pristine and smack of artifice, modernity and transience. Yet this tension is thematically effective as Murder On The Orient Express is acutely interested in the tensions between artifice and reality. Many shots capture the characters through multi-paned windows, expressing the multiple roles they play and the various perspectives available, both narratively and morally. The film emphasizes such relativity in moments when Poirot reconstructs the events of the titular and other crimes, in a manner similar though more reserved than that seen in “The Limehouse Golem” earlier this year. Also unlike that film, Murder On The Orient Express eschews gore, which again supports the somewhat conservative morality that Poirot puts forward, and adds further meat to the philosophical meal. So much visual and narrative backflipping might become wearing if without purpose, but where the film goes with this perspective proves to be arresting and feels quite radical. At one point there seems to be a resolution that feels somewhat anticlimactic, but more is still to come before Branagh/Poirot delivers the coup de grace that is both expected yet refreshing and pleasingly ambiguous. This ambiguity undercuts the overtly artificial construction of the film’s milieu, demonstrating that standards of morality and ethics may be as much a construct as the mechanisms of a railroad, or indeed a plot. It is the film’s philosophical investigation, that perhaps Ludwig Wittgenstein might enjoy, that elevates Murder on the Orient Express into something special. Combined with his starry cast, intricate and vivacious storytelling, Branagh has breathed new life into a classic story, making it fresh, vibrant and relevant.

Murder on the Orient Express 2017 Murder, she wrote, and Hollywood loved her for it. Or they used to, at least — plundering Agatha Christie’s vast catalog of posh, stabby whodunits for countless screen adaptations. But it’s taken actor-director Kenneth Branagh to sweep her from the dustier corners of PBS to center stage again in his Murder on the Orient Express, a lushly old-fashioned adaptation wrapped in a veritable turducken of pearls, monocles, and international movie stars. Branagh himself takes the plum role of one of Christie’s most beloved creations, the fussily brilliant Belgian detective Hercule pronounced Air-kool; “I do not slay ze lions” Poirot. A prim 1930s dandy with a penchant for bone-dry bons mots and a mustache so magnificent it looks like an eagle has landed its wingspan on his upper lip, he solves seemingly impossible crimes with a squinted eye and a flick of his silver walking stick. But trouble tends to find the good inspector, and so even a brief respite on the luxe Express — “three days free of care, concern, or crime” — becomes a snowbound CSI when a shady art dealer who believes he’s marked for death Johnny Depp, doing his best dime-store Al Capone attempts to enlist Poirot’s help in ferreting out his would-be assassin. The suspects are legion It could be his long-suffering secretary Josh Gad or butler Derek Jacobi, or the purring widow Michelle Pfeiffer he nearly kissed in the corridor. Then again, there’s also something furtive about clever governess Mary Daisy Ridley and her hardly secret lover, Dr. Arbuthnot Hamilton’s Leslie Odom Jr.; the imperious Princess Dragomiroff and her cowed German maid Judi Dench and Olivia Colman, respectively; pious Pilar, the saintly missionary with the jagged scar on her cheek Penélope Cruz; slick Cuban auto magnate Marquez Manuel Garcia-Rulfo; and jumpy Austrian professor Gerhard Willem Dafoe. Stashed somewhere in there too are an elusive Count and Countess, high on ballet and barbiturates. The resolution of the movie’s central mystery is almost endearingly corny, less shocking twist than slow dinner-theater twirl. But Branagh executes his double duties with a gratifyingly light touch, tweaking the story’s more mothballed elements without burying it all in winky wham-bam modernity. His Poirot isn’t just highbrow camp, he’s a melancholy soul with a strict moral code. And his superhuman intuition serves him well; in the final scenes, he may just smell a sequel. B+ Murder on the Orient Express 2017

I know. I KNOW. Ever since seeing the trailer for the mystery thriller “Murder on the Orient Express,” a question has been nagging at you. It’s not who among a diverse array of actors including Judi Dench as a Russian princess, Willem Dafoe as a German professor, Penelope Cruz as a depressed missionary and Johnny Depp as a thuggish art dealer, is the killer. But why has a small furry mammal disguised as a magnificent beast of a handlebar mustache in 50 shades of silvery gray taken up residence under Kenneth Branagh’s nose? The hair apparent seems specifically designed to practically steal every scene it appears in during this sumptuous yet ultimately stuffy and overstuffed big-screen return visit to Agatha Christie’s most durable novel. It's even responsible for the film’s best sight gag. If Branagh, the star and director behind the 21st-century digitally-enhanced stab at bringing this ensemble vehicle back to life wanted to make a statement to distinguish this take on his world-famous Belgian detective Hercule Poirot from any other, he certainly has. In the 1974 movie adaptation helmed by Sidney Lumet, Albert Finney sported a pert black swatch with Dali-esque twirls at the ends. Boring, right? Branagh’s fuzzy wuzzy is like an ocean wave of whiskers, from ear to shining ear. Best supporting player? That honor goes to that dashing splash of a soul patch on his chin. OK, I am stalling. Let’s accentuate the positive first. The script by Michael Green “Blade Runner 2049” does a bang-up job of introducing us to Poirot, a fuss-budget stickler who demands perfectly cooked four-minute eggs and tsk-tsks their imperfect dimensions—and then doesn’t even bother to eat them. He is a control freak who insists on balance in everything, from how a tie sits around a man’s neck to impeccably baked bread. The place is Jerusalem actually, Malta as a stand-in and the year is 1934. Poirot is at the Wailing Wall about to deliver the solution to a crime tied to three clerics of different faiths and a stolen artifact. With the showbiz panache of a Vegas magician, he reveals the perpetrator with an unexpected flourish involving a cane. That sends the message, “Hey, this could be fun.” But matters get perfunctory rather quickly when fellow passengers whose baggage clearly includes secrets begin to pop up, including Daisy Ridley Rey in “Star Wars The Force Awakens” as a porcelain-skinned governess and Leslie Odom Jr. Aaron Burr in Broadway’s “Hamilton” as a doctor who attempt to disguise they are an interracial couple. Those marquee credits are bound to draw in the under-30 demographic. But, alas, the only fully fleshed-out being turns out to be Poirot, who moons over a portrait of a lost love and undergoes an existential crisis of sorts when he finds himself unexpectedly confounded when a dead body turns up on the train with an even dozen stab wounds. The luxury locomotive traveling from Istanbul to Calais also comes to a halt about a half-hour in when an avalanche causes it to stop in its tracks atop a dangerous trestle. I wish I could say that the storyline at least picks up steam, but it never quite does especially since it devolves into a series of private interrogations by the imperious Poirot in a café car. Michelle Pfeiffer does what she can as a man-hungry rich widow searching for her next husband. Derek Jacobi and Josh Gad conspire as a valet and assistant to Depp’s scar-faced hoodlum. Other performers barely have the presence or enough dialogue to make much of an impression including the incredibly talented Olivia Colman as Dench’s lady in waiting. In addition, there are veiled allusions to the 1932 kidnapping of aviator Charles Lindbergh’s baby son, which few besides history buffs will recognize today. Branagh, the actor, comes through unscathed. Branagh, the director, not so much. He did wonders with making Shakespeare relevant for young audiences with his “Henry V” and found a way to make Disney’s live-action “Cinderella” seem fresh and new. But despite camera trickery with ineffective overhead shots and a long one-take scene as Poirot boards the moving train, there is too little levity and cleverness afoot, especially with a cast whose talent is barely tapped. The key isn’t whodunit but how you do it. However, that mustache—which even grows limp and messy when matters get dicey for Poirot—deserves a place in the pantheon of great follicle-ly enhanced performances. Perhaps it could sit alongside George Clooney’s waxed-to-perfection facial accoutrement in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” As for “Murder on the Orient Express,” it squeaks by as passable entertainment by just a hair. Susan Wloszczyna Susan Wloszczyna spent much of her nearly thirty years at USA TODAY as a senior entertainment reporter. Now unchained from the grind of daily journalism, she is ready to view the world of movies with fresh eyes. Now playing Film Credits Murder on the Orient Express 2017 114 minutes Latest blog posts about 1 hour ago about 4 hours ago about 5 hours ago 1 day ago Comments

TRAILER 237 CLIP 204 CLIP 214 CLIP 214 Play all videos What to know Murder, intrigue, and a star-studded cast make this stylish production of Murder on the Orient Express one of the best Agatha Christie adaptations to see the silver screen. Read critic reviews Rent/buy Rent/buy Rent/buy Murder on the Orient Express videos Murder on the Orient Express Official Clip - The Night of the Murder CLIP 204 Murder on the Orient Express Official Clip - Colonel Arbuthnot CLIP 214 Murder on the Orient Express Official Clip - Stabbed Twelve Times CLIP 214 Murder on the Orient Express Official Clip - Ratchett's Murder CLIP 208 Murder on the Orient Express Official Clip - They're All Connected CLIP 142 Murder on the Orient Express Official Clip - The Armstrong Case CLIP 140 Murder on the Orient Express Official Clip - Getting Away with Murder CLIP 157 Murder on the Orient Express Official Clip - Poisoning Ratchett CLIP 211 Murder on the Orient Express Official Clip - Memories of Murder CLIP 159 Murder on the Orient Express Official Clip - Ratchett's Request CLIP 210 Murder on the Orient Express Trailer 1 TRAILER 237 Murder on the Orient Express Photos Movie Info Having concluded a case, detective Hercule Poirot Albert Finney settles into what he expects will be a relaxing journey home aboard the Orient Express. But when an unpopular billionaire is murdered en route, Poirot takes up the case, and everyone on board the famous train is a suspect. Using an avalanche blocking the tracks to his advantage, Poirot gradually realizes that many of the passengers have revenge as a motive, and he begins to home in on the culprit. Rating PG Genre Mystery & thriller Original Language English United Kingdom Director Sidney Lumet Producer John Brabourne, Richard Goodwin Writer Agatha Christie, Paul Dehn, Anthony Shaffer Release Date Theaters Nov 24, 1974 original Release Date Streaming Sep 7, 2004 Runtime 2h 7m Distributor Paramount Pictures Production Co EMI Films Ltd. Sound Mix Mono Aspect Ratio Scope Cast & Crew News & Interviews for Murder on the Orient Express Critic Reviews for Murder on the Orient Express Audience Reviews for Murder on the Orient Express Aug 07, 2017 Christie's flaws as a writer are only magnified in the film adaptions of her work In short, she cheats a lot and this one is no exception. That being said, Finney's Poirot is delightful. Super Reviewer May 10, 2017 A little bit of a revenge fantasy dressed up with loads of star power. Unfortunately the story is lame and unbelievable. Still its good to see the stars out. Ingrid Bergman and Albert Finney actually take the trouble to bother to act. Sep 13, 2016 Classic old fasioned whodunit based of the Agatha Christie novel of the same name. The cast is superb and Lumets direction is unquestionable brilliant. That finale where the clues are put together keeps you glued to the screen with every new beat. This is a pinnacle in detective films and I wish every film had this brilliance, who get swept up in the story that you forget to find the clues yourself. Mar 31, 2014 This is a film adaptation of one of many of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot stories, and it's one star studded affair. This particular caper follows Detective Poirot as he investigates the titular event a wealthy man is found dead on the train, the Orient Express. There's a number of possible suspects, each with their own motives, and it's up to Poirot to figure out who is responsible. Albert Finney is Poirot, and some of the other major players include LAuren Bacall, Ingrid BErgman, Sean Connery, Jacqueline Bisset, Richard Widmark, Vanessa Redgrave, and many more. The film is a good bit of fun, and it has a nice look to it, with some decent shooting, and yeah, the central murder mystery is decently engaging too. I'll admit that things get a little slow, bogged down, and a tad bit boring in the middle, but if you happen to fall asleep, things get wrapped up and summarized before the big finish, so that's okay too. All in all, this is a fun, ensemble spectacle that you should give a watch. Super Reviewer

Choo-choo choose this whole idea of remaking a murder mystery, especially one of the most popular murder mysteries ever made, is inherently fraught with peril. After all, a lot of people in the audience already know “whodunnit”, either because they’ve read it, seen it, or heard about it through good old-fashioned cultural it was exceptionally smart to get Kenneth Branagh to remake Murder on the Orient Express. The director of Henry V, Much Ado About Nothing and Hamlet has built his whole reputation on re-staging classic tales that had already been re-staged thousands of times. He knows that the trick to making another Murder on the Orient Express isn’t to keep us guessing. Agatha Christie’s impeccable story does all of that heavy lifting for him. The trick is to film the hell out of an ensemble cast of incredible actors, each of them putting their own spin on a timeless classic, and to have a grand old time doing on the Orient Express stars Kenneth Branagh as Hercule Poirot, an obsessive-compulsive detective who is desperate for a vacation. But his trip on the Orient Express, en route from Istanbul, comes to a sudden halt when an avalanche stops the train in its tracks. And wouldn’t you know it, there’s now a dead body on board. Someone has been stabbed a dozen times and every one of the passengers in that train car - except for Poirot, of course - is now a out his cast There’s a governess with a secret, played by Daisy Ridley, and a doctor with his own secrets, played by Leslie Odom Jr. There’s a shady American businessman, played by Johnny Depp. There’s a racist Austrian professor, played by Willem Dafoe. There’s a stuffy princess played by Judi Dench, and her put-upon servant, played by Olivia Colman. There’s the victim’s alcoholic assistant, played by Josh Gad, and his long-suffering valet, played by Derek Jacobi. There’s a deeply religious woman with a past, played by Penélope Cruz, and a flirtatious socialite, played by Michelle Pfeiffer. It goes on like cast is dazzling and Kenneth Branagh gives each of them their moment to shine, as they are interrogated one-by-one. The luscious cinematography by Haris Zambarloukos makes even the most confined spaces seem full of portent and possibility, and the deft adaptation by Michael Green keeps the film sprinting swiftly from one memorable sequence to another. Murder on the Orient Express speeds along just like, well, the Orient Express, giving us plenty of time to take in the sites while moving steadily and suspensefully towards its final, shocking on the Orient Express Cast of CharactersBut although he’s got one hell of an ensemble, Branagh as usual saves the juiciest part for himself. His rendition of Poirot is heroic and hilarious, driven by compulsion but impishly amused by his own cleverness. As the mystery plows forward, and the clues make less and less sense, his uncertainty tears him apart. You can always see Poirot’s gears turning, and it’s delightful when the engine works and tragic when it Branagh is phenomenal in front of and behind the camera because he seems to love playing with these toys, from the enchanting prologue that gives weight to Poirot’s legend, to the ambitious long takes that remind you of just how dazzling this ensemble is. He loves his cast so much that when he assembles them into the same shot together, he stages them like Da Vinci’s Last Supper. And the action gets just as much attention as the dialogue, so that the smallest moments are just as captivating at the big ones, and that’s really, truly on the Orient Express may not be a particularly “necessary” adaptation. If you’ve seen Sidney Lumet’s Oscar-winning film from 1974, you’ve already seen a pitch perfect rendition of Agatha Christie at her best. But Branagh’s interpretation is just as delightful in some ways, and almost as delightful in all the others. It’s a classy, riveting remake, and it will make you want to see even more adventures featuring this particular This ArticleMurder on the Orient Express ReviewamazingChoo-choo choose this engrossing new adaptation of Murder on the Orient Bibbiani

Murder on the Orient Express Reviews Movie Reviews By Reviewer Type All Critics Top Critics All Audience Verified Audience Prev Next While this take on Murder on the Orient Express is destined to exist as a Sunday afternoon matinee picture people will throw on and bask in, there is unmistakable depth and humanity inside the confectionary of its exterior and its big-budget staging. Full Review Original Score Mar 23, 2022 What remains most pleasurable about Murder on the Orient Express is the stylish and classical quality of the storytelling; it's an old-fashioned sort of murder mystery in more than the obvious ways. Full Review Original Score 3/4 Mar 17, 2022 A solid but slightly unremarkable bit of detective fiction. Full Review Original Score 3/5 Dec 29, 2021 With a glorious mustache that must be seen to be believed, Kenneth Branagh slips into the role of Hercule Poirot quite comfortably. Full Review Original Score B+ Aug 24, 2021 ...overall, Murder on the Orient Express should've been more engaging with a sense of urgency... Full Review Dec 23, 2020 To be honest, Branagh's stately direction means the mystery itself is a bit of a plod. Even if you don't already know whodunit. Full Review Dec 20, 2020 The beauty of this story is that everything seems coincidental or random, as if a bit of bad luck has resulted in an unsolvable slaying. Full Review Original Score 6/10 Dec 5, 2020 Agatha Christie deserves a better remake... Full Review Original Score 2/5 Nov 5, 2020 It's one of those films that feels completely and utterly unnecessary. Full Review Original Score Sep 17, 2020 We have charismatic actors dressed fashionably, wrapped in a story full of intrigue, and accompanied by a production design that feels lavish and detailed. Full Review Original Score B+ Jul 18, 2020 Filmed in glorious 65mm, Murder on the Orient Express is a lush adaptation in the grand tradition of those old Hollywood films that boasted "an International All-Star Cast." Full Review Jul 6, 2020 The journey begins well enough, but the train jumps the tracks and collides with a lifeless procedural that's more Kenneth Branagh vanity project than murder mystery. Full Review Original Score C Jul 1, 2020 It was fun. I like this kind of movie. Full Review May 13, 2020 This movie was silly and fun, and I had a good time. Full Review May 13, 2020 The actors here try too hard to flesh out roles that are little more than stock types. Full Review Mar 25, 2020 Overall Murder on the Orient Express is a worthwhile bit of fun. Fans of the book might will find it to be a slick, dutiful retelling of a classic, while newcomers will certainly be entertained, and may even be inspired to dip into Christie's literature. Full Review Mar 24, 2020 As a pure mystery, Murder on the Orient Express is just okay. But as a Branagh acting showcase, as a handsomely directed film, and as a nostalgic reminder of more elegant times, it's a triumph. Full Review Feb 20, 2020 If this is the quality of work he is able to produce on his first attempt with [Agatha] Christie's material, then [Kenneth] Branagh quite possibly has the next great franchise in his clearly capable hands. Full Review Original Score 4/5 Feb 15, 2020 Her Agatha Christie stories keep everyone guessing until the end, and no matter how the story is presented, it is always with a dramatic flare and a big reveal. Full Review Feb 4, 2020 When the big reveal finally happens, it is played out in grandiose bravura that most of us crave in a big production such as this. Full Review Original Score 3/4 Jan 24, 2020 Prev Next Do you think we mischaracterized a critic's review?

The word “sheer” is missing from the beginning of the title. Like a dusty and long-locked display room in Madame Tussauds, this movie showcases an all-star cast in period costume, each of whom must suppress his or her star quality in the cause of being part of an all-star cast. It is a new version of Agatha Christie’s 1934 detective mystery, one of her most ingenious, all about a grisly killing on board a train that is marooned in snow. The story arguably has something to say about the nature of guilt and the nature of authorship. Kenneth Branagh directs and plays the legendary Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot with an unfeasibly large ’tache, accessorised with a demi-goatee beneath the lower lip and a pepper-and-salt colouring overall, like the hair of former ITV World of Sport presenter Dickie Davies. Poirot says things like “The keelaire eez meurking me!”The film’s old-fashioned luxury stylings pay homage to Sidney Lumet’s own A-lister-crammed version from 1974 – which had Albert Finney as a more dyspeptic and glowering Poirot – and the film seems to be testing the waters for a lucrative new Bond-style franchise, the next caper being Death on the Nile. This Murder on the Orient Express gives the story a slightly more modern perspective; some of the races are changed and the era’s attitudes challenged, although there is a smug gag about a cheery prostitute at the beginning that could come straight from the seedy-sophisticate 70s. Two characters oddly allude to an earnest argument they have supposedly had about “Stalinism” in which it is far from obvious who is for and who … Judi Dench, right, as a Russian princess and Olivia Colman as her maid. Photograph Allstar/20th Century FoxThis version also tries to open things out a little by creating some derring-do out there in the freezing snow, before people nip smartly back into the warm carriage. There’s some outrageous product placement for a certain brand of chocolate, prominently displayed, over which Poirot lingers to say “Ah leurve these leeteurl cecks!” However much they contributed to the production budget, it wasn’t enough.Poirot boards the renowned Orient Express in Istanbul, heading for Calais, and finds he is sharing it with a remarkable cross-section of American and European society – though, with only a dozen or so passengers, the real mystery is how the Orient Express stays solvent. There is the haughty and cantankerous White Russian Princess Dragomiroff Judi Dench and her submissive maid Hildegarde Schmidt Olivia Colman; demure governess Mary Debenham Daisy Ridley, who may have some connection with Dr Arbuthnot Leslie Odom Jr; sinister German academic Gerhard Hardman Willem Dafoe; a mousily religious Pilar Estravados Penélope Cruz; manhunting American widow Mrs Hubbard Michelle Pfeiffer; saturnine Russian dancer Count Andrenyi played by real-life ballet star Sergei Polunin and his troubled wife, Countess Andrenyi Lucy Boynton; and genial businessman Marquez Manuel Garcia-Rulfo. There is also a crooked American art dealer, Ratchett Johnny Depp, accompanied by his butler, Masterman Derek Jacobi, and private secretary, Hector MacQueen Josh Gad. One of these people is found murdered – subject to a frenzied a mouthwatering cast it looks. And yet, of all these characters, only one is given anything like the necessary space to live and breathe, and that is the malign, gravel-voiced Ratchett. He has an interestingly charged scene with Mrs Hubbard and a similarly fraught encounter with Poirot, in which he has the unthinkable bad taste to offer the great detective a … Johnny Depp as Ratchett, the crooked art dealer. Photograph Alamy Stock PhotoTellingly, these moments happen before the murder, the discovery of which is filmed in the most bafflingly indirect way. Branagh contrives a showy overhead shot of the tops of people’s heads as they break into the victim’s compartment and the shock factor of unveiling the bloody corpse is lost, with nothing much gained in terms of subtlety or indirect the murder is announced, the narrative clockwork is assumed to have been set in motion. And yet it is more like the victim’s pocket watch, which was smashed in the violence and ceased to work, thus giving Poirot a vital clue as to the time of death. Something about the story itself goes dead at that moment, reviving only with the big reveal at the end, for which Poirot assembles the suspects outside, all seated at some sort of last-supper trestle table. Carrying that thing around on the train must have been a pain, but at last it came in handy. This film never gets up a head of steam. This article was amended on 3 November to correct the title of Agatha Christie’s book Death on the Nile, which had been mistakenly referred to as Murder on the Nile

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murder on the orient express 2017 movie review